energy galore

Sunday marked our 2 year home-to-America anniversary.  We went to Capital Brewery for a fundraiser for Clinic At A Time, a local charity that brings health care to Ethiopia.  I had some injera and wat, but Elias opted for a hotdog and pretzels.  I won a silent auction for 5 ceramic chickens (actually they look more like guinea hens), a little bigger than the pair I got when I was there.  There were plenty of familiar faces, but I was distracted and tired out by trying to keep tabs on Elias, who was having a grand time.  It had rained heavily before we got there, and in short order Elias had found and stomped in the biggest, muddiest puddle, then slipped and fell into it.  Upon recovering from his surprise, he decided to get his hands involved too until I made my way to him.  He must have gotten me to accompany him to the bathroom 5 times (no easy task with wet, muddy cords).  The next fun thing was finding an older boy who wanted to chase him, and they ended up running around and through everything, sometimes picking up other kids, for about 45 minutes straight (Elias escaping several times, very briefly, into the women's restroom where the older boy wouldn't follow.)  People commented on how energetic he was, in a friendly, somewhat sympathetic manner.

The entire weekend Elias was so energetic that it seemed he was on some sort of hyperactivity drug.  Even his "standing still" is him jogging in place.  Even when inside he constantly dances, climbs, and runs, often giving a running commentary "I climbing."  "I run fast!"  When I read him a story, after several minutes he'll start twisting and squirming, falling off the couch and climbing over it, even though he's very engaged in the story.  It's like he just can't keep all that energy bottled up.  It's a little disconcerting, even--I can see why some parents might give kids ridilin or other drugs to bring them down to "normal." (I think that's horrible, BTW).  Alas, rather than being contagious, his hyperactivity just seems to sap my own limited energy supply.